Autoblog has a great feature on Adam Carolla’s car collection. It’s no secret that he is a huge Datsun nut but read further into the article and look at the pictures of his super-clean garage…he also loves classic Lamborghinis! Maybe Adam’s foray into vintage racing has got folks interested in what kind of toys the man has.
We look forward to seeing Adam running his Datsuns hard at the track like he did recently at Laguna Seca.

Two rather large Nissan trucks came to ZCG for some tuning! Here is Rob with the story:

Linda N is wife and partner in crime to Mark.  Mark is a long time Datsun Rocker and has owned plenty of Datsuns including an IMSA turbo Z, Datsun 510s, 620 Truck. He still has his 510 from when he was 16 and built a turbocharged L-series motor for it. He also has a daily driver 510 with a KA24DE and A/C!

Enough about Mark, back to Linda. This Datsun family uses the Armada to haul the kids and pets around town while Mark has all the Datsuns torn down in various stages of modification.
Linda was asking me what we could do to give her Armada some extra kick. I suggested the UPREV software. She dropped the V8 powered SUV off at ZCG. Vlad helped me strap it down on the rollers of our DYNOJET 224 LC and we got some baseline runs before tuning.

We were impressed with the results: gains of 17hp/29tq at the wheels…not bad for a truck with 130,000 miles and just an intake! Linda is very happy and reports that along with power and torque increase she is also seeing better gas mileage.

More Nissan Family Madness: Nick’s QX56

Nick is the brother of Matt, you may remember his G37TT, the quest for performance runs strong in the family! Nick brought in his QX56 for some service work and we starting talking cars…next thing you know we ordered a Stillen intake and stainless Magnaflow cat-back exhaust.

Icing on the cake came in the form of some UPREV tuning. On the test drive I could see that performance smile that runs in the family. Nick called me the next day to tell me the QX56 feels like a new machine. The exhaust and intake are just the right amount of rumble and you can see from the DYNO graph below that the power and torque is increased everywhere:

The Nissan hard-drive in my head started buzzing after this exciting few days of SUV madness…VK56DE powered Datsun 510 Stationwagon, anyone?

Long live the NISSAN/ INFINITI performance!
Rob

As soon as Rob told me “It’s here” over the phone I jumped in my Datsun and drove as quickly as possible to ZCG. So what’s all the fuss? Gary S recently acquired a ’71 Skyline 2000 GT and had it shipped overseas from Yokohama, Japan! You might remember Gary from his black BEHEMOTH RB28 240z, and 500whp black G35, and now this black Skyline!

The car is in great condition and will get some ZCG love in the next few weeks. It came fairly modified with suspension and cosmetic upgrades. I absolutely love the way these models have so much character. The pillar-less windows are incredible and make side-profile views sleek. The GT-R style flares are a must especially with larger wheel/tire combos like the Watanabes that the previous owner ran. Gotta love those beefy BFGs in back….

I have never sat in one of these cars, and it is a fantastic interior… …[read more]

Geri R first came to ZCG in November of 2009.  She has owned this pretty 1974 Datsun 260z for over 30 years and never had a dedicated Z-car shop work on it.  The car needed specific Z parts and some TLC that ZCarGarage is always willing to provide. Geri’s goal was to make the Z totally dependable and more enjoyable for long roadtrips down to LA.

A complete rebuild of the suspension was performed, both front and rear. Along the way a laundry list of  items were replaced or refurbished including:

-New factory Tach
-Battery cables
-New factory fuel pump
-Hard to find factory transmission speedo cable
-Gear reduction starter
-Fuel hoses
-A/C system converted to r134

On to the suspension rebuild! After parts were removed the underbody was undercoated and all nuts/bolts were zinc plated:

Every major suspension part was powdercoated. Geri found the stock suspension to be a bit on the soft side with lots of body-roll so Tokico shocks with slightly firmer/shorter springs, and sway bars were installed to stiffen the ride:

Check out the before/after pics with the freshly powdercoated a-arms, T/C rods, subframes, zinc’d hardware…it’s so clean!
New ball joints were also installed:

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Ken S came to ZCarGarage several years ago when he just purchased this pretty 300zx Twin Turbo. It had just passed the 60k mark and ZCG performed routine maintenance including full timing belt services. It wasn’t long before Ken got the performance bug and started upgrading the suspension. ZCG installed Tockiko 5-way shocks, sway bars, and StopTech 13″ big brakes. After tackling the suspension naturally Ken wanted more power so a Stage 3 upgrade with supporting mods was installed. Unfortunately the stock turbos had issues so they were upgraded to JWT Sport 500s.

The original front bumper had seen better days with nicks and peeling. Williams worked his magic with new paint and installed new side skirts, JDM front bumper and that trademark vented hood that we have seen on other Z32s.

Recently Ken visited  ZCG for more power upgrades.  Basic performance upgrades included new 2.5″ IC plumbing and SMICs from ConceptZ.  Here you can see the install and how much cleaner the new plumbing is:

Dual JWT POP chargers replace the single merged setup:

With increased cooling capacity and the HKS boost controller total output is now 383hp/378tq at the wheels!

Here is the engine bay before/after the install and detailing. Please check the gallery for more detailed images: it’s easy to overlook all of the work that is performed!

It is impressive to see an iconic 90’s sports car perform and make power that rivals most current sports cars. It is even better when there is still plenty of aftermarket support and enthusiasts willing to continue developing parts!
Long Live the 300ZX TT!
Click below for more photos
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